California’s Congressional candidates recently reported their fundraising totals. Unsurprisingly, the incumbents in the Central Valley’s districts all hold major financial advantages at this early stage.
Here is a look at where each Central Valley candidate stands as of the last reporting period, which ran from the beginning of the year to March 31:
House district 9
Rep. Josh Harder (D–Turlock) took in over $470,000 in the first quarter of the year, while he spent $170,000 in the same period.
Harder has $1.45 million cash on hand.
His Republican challenger Brett Dood, a Protestant pastor from Ripon, raised $60,250 and has just over $58,000 on hand.
House District 13
Rep. John Duarte pulled in close to $600,000 in the first three months of 2023 while spending $104,000.
Duarte, who is in his first term in Congress, has $518,742 in the bank.
Democratic serial candidate Phil Arballo raised $22,272 and has $11,707 left.
Democrat Brad Boyd ranks third with $7,700 raised, but he does not have any money left in his campaign account.
Former Merced Democratic Assemblymember Adam Gray lost to Gray last year by a slim margin and took in $3,616 in the first period of the year. He has $4,255 left in the bank.
House District 20
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R–Bakersfield) holds the most significant financial lead for any Central Valley candidate against a challenger.
McCarthy raised $3.8 million in the first period of the year while he spent $2 million.
The Republican leader has $7.2 million cash on hand.
The leading Democratic challenger is John Burrows, who works as a staffer for Fresno City Councilman Nelson Esparza. Burrows raised $90,627 and has $26,897 left on hand.
Fresno security guard Andy Morales, whose campaign is being run by Arballo, raised $26,899 and has $12,872 left.
House district 21
Longtime Rep. Jim Costa (D–Fresno) is the only candidate who has filed to run for the 21st district so far.
Costa raised $133,246 in the first quarter of 2023 and has $444,917 in his campaign account.
House district 22
The upcoming rematch of Rep. David Valadao (R–Hanford) and former Bakersfield Democratic Assemblymember Rudy Salas has the Republican incumbent with a major early advantage.
Valadao took in $526,506 in the first part of the year and has $436,007 left on hand.
Salas, who announced his candidacy for the seat last December did not raise a single dollar in the first period and only has $4,120 left in the bank.
